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'The Giver' coming to ASUMH March 11

The Giver, adapted from the Newbery Award-winning book by Lois Lowry, will be presented at Arkansas State University-Mountain Home on March 11. The 2 p.m. matinee will be held in the Ed Coulter Performing Arts Center at The Sheid.

The Giver, adapted from the Newbery Award-winning book by Lois Lowry, will be presented at Arkansas State University-Mountain Home on March 11.

The 2 p.m. matinee will be held in the Ed Coulter Performing Arts Center at The Sheid. This modern classic will be presented by the National Players; America’s longest running touring theater celebrating its 68th season this year.

Tickets are $25 for adults, plus $3.95 fees, and $12.50 for students, plus $2.08 fees and are available online at http://www.thesheid.com.

In a “utopian” future of sameness, young Jonas inherits an unusual career: To receive and keep the memories of his community’s past. Throughout lessons with his elder predecessor, The Giver teaches Jonas of love, war, and all of life’s unknown joys and pains. As his oppressive world continues unchanged, Jonas must decide whether to keep these secrets or upend his community. The tale explores the risks and rewards of a full life. The Giver speaks to all ages, from elementary audiences to adults, and National Players is producing it for the first time this year.

Lowry invented the world of The Giver, with its memory-and emotion-erasing drugs, after her father was put in a nursing home. As he aged, he began to lose parts of his memory; Lowry showed him a photograph of her deceased sister and he could not remember her name, or that she had died at the age of 28. The experience caused Lowry to briefly question how society might be different, or even better, if we did not have memories. The novel is often labelled the first dystopian young adult novel, which Lowry dismissed in an interview with NPR in 2014. “I didn’t think of it as futuristic or dystopian or science fiction or fantasy,” she protested.

The novel has become required reading in thousands of schools and remains a beloved literary rite of passage for many people. In addition to a 2014 movie adaptation where Jonas is 16 when he receives his assignment rather than 12, The Giver has been adapted into the play by Eric Coble, as well as an opera.

National Players has performed in 41 states; in the White House; and for American military in Europe, Asia and the Arctic Circle. Committed to artistic excellence and community engagement, National Players has brought literature to life for more than 2.9 million people.

Actors not only play multiple roles onstage, they also serve as stage managers, teaching artists and technicians. This year, the Players consist of 10 actors, traveling across the country and visiting schools and art centers. A self-contained company, National Players carries its own sets, lights, costumes and sound, meaning that the actors rebuild the set and hang lights for more than 100 performances a year.

They also memorize lines for three different plays — this year, Hamlet, The Grapes of Wrath and The Giver — often performing more than one each day.

The National Players were in Mountain Home last year presenting To Kill a Mockingbird during the 5th Performing Arts Series at ASUMH.

Tickets for The Giver are available online at http://www.thesheid.com, by phone at (870) 508-6280 or (800) 965-9324, or in person at the box office Monday-Friday, 8 a.m.-5 p.m. at The Sheid on the ASUMH campus.